hub.darcs.net :: librarian -> system -> changes

It is prevalent in programming to use main as the name of an entry point file or function.

Someone asked on Quora: "Why is the main function called the main function and not something else?"; the top answer reads:

"A program has to have an entry point from where the execution gets started. This entry point has to be a function most of the times."

"Since there are many functions in a typical program with well defined names, the function which is important for the execution to get started was given the name main function since it is the main function that helps getting things started."

"There is no particular reason it is called main. It could've been called by any other name representing that its a central and mandatory function."

"IMO main was the best term to represent it ... So main it is."

Last look at how Merriam-Webster defines main:

3. the chief part: essential point.

Well, main it is.

Historically, people tend to put their source code in the src directory, but out there in the wild, you are guaranteed to find all sorts of conventions, schemes, and hierarchies.

Instead of following with crypting nuances of historical baggage, I recommend to keep source files in the system directory. Here is why:

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, system is:

1. a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole;

... but also:

4. harmonious arrangement or pattern.

According to Oxford dictionary:

1. a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; in computing, a group of related hardware units or programs or both, especially when dedicated to a single application;

2. a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized framework or method.